Portal:Trees

The Trees Portal

In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only plants that are usable as lumber, or only plants above a specified height. Wider definitions include taller palms, tree ferns, bananas, and bamboos.

Trees are not a monophyletic taxonomic group but consist of a wide variety of plant species that have independently evolved a trunk and branches as a way to tower above other plants to compete for sunlight. The majority of tree species are angiosperms or hardwoods; of the rest, many are gymnosperms or softwoods. Trees tend to be long-lived, some trees reaching several thousand years old. Trees evolved around 400 million years ago, and it is estimated that there are around three trillion mature trees in the world currently.

A tree typically has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground by the trunk, which typically contains woody tissue for strength, and vascular tissue to carry materials from one part of the tree to another. For most trees the trunk is surrounded by a layer of bark which serves as a protective barrier. Below the ground, the roots branch and spread out widely; they serve to anchor the tree and extract moisture and nutrients from the soil. Above ground, the branches divide into smaller branches and shoots. The shoots typically bear leaves, which capture light energy and convert it into sugars by photosynthesis, providing the food for the tree's growth and development.

Trees usually reproduce using seeds. Flowering plants have their seeds inside fruits, while conifers carry their seeds in cones, and tree ferns produce spores instead.

Trees play a significant role in reducing erosion and moderating the climate. They remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store large quantities of carbon in their tissues. Trees and forests provide a habitat for many species of animals and plants. Tropical rainforests are among the most biodiverse habitats in the world. Trees provide shade and shelter, timber for construction, fuel for cooking and heating, and fruit for food as well as having many other uses. In much of the world, forests are shrinking as trees are cleared to increase the amount of land available for agriculture. Because of their longevity and usefulness, trees have always been revered, with sacred groves in various cultures, and they play a role in many of the world's mythologies. (Full article...)

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Brachychiton rupestris (commonly known as the narrow-leaved bottle tree or Queensland bottle tree) is a tree in the family Malvaceae, endemic to Queensland, Australia. Described by Sir Thomas Mitchell and John Lindley in 1848, it earned its name from its bulbous trunk, which can be up to 3.5 metres (11 ft) in diameter at breast height (DBH). Reaching around 10–25 m (33–82 ft) high, the Queensland bottle tree is deciduous, losing its leaves seasonally, between September and December. The leaves are simple or divided, with one or more narrow leaf blades up to 11 centimetres (4 in) long and 2 cm (0.8 in) wide. Cream-coloured flowers appear from September to November, and are followed by woody, boat-shaped follicles that ripen from November to May. No subspecies are recognised.

As a drought deciduous succulent tree, much like the baobab (Adansonia) of Madagascar, B. rupestris adapts readily to cultivation, and is quite tolerant of a range of soils and temperatures. It is a key component and emergent tree in the endangered central semi-evergreen vine thickets (also known as bottletree scrub) of the Queensland Brigalow Belt. Remnant trees are often left by farmers on cleared land for their value as shade and fodder trees, and as homes for various birds and animals. (Full article...)

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... that a fellow artist said of Allen Butler Talcott that "no one was his peer in the knowledge of trees and how to paint them" (painting of oak pictured)?
... that sex scenes in the controversial 1967 film I Am Curious (Yellow) were shot inside the Rumskulla oak, an oak tree that is more than 1,000 years old?
... that the red nose-like structure of the cherrynose cicada contains muscles that help it suck xylem out of trees?
... that extracts from leaves of the mahogany tree suren toon are used as antibacterial poultices?
... that The Greening of Detroit has planted over 81,000 trees in the Michigan city since the organization's inception in 1989?
... that the vinhática tree Plathymenia reticulata (pictured), provides the preferred timber for making dugout canoes in Brazil, because it is resistant to rotting?

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European pear branch with two pears

Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and are harvested in late summer into mid-autumn. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus Pyrus /ˈpaɪrəs/, in the family Rosaceae, bearing the pomaceous fruit of the same name. Several species of pears are valued for their edible fruit and juices, while others are cultivated as trees.

The tree is medium-sized and native to coastal and mildly temperate regions of Europe, North Africa, and Asia. Pear wood is one of the preferred materials in the manufacture of high-quality woodwind instruments and furniture. (Full article...)

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General images

The following are images from various tree-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Form, leaves and reproductive structures of queen sago, Cycas circinalis (from Tree)
Image 2Buds, leaves, flowers and fruit of pedunculate oak, Quercus robur (from Tree)
Image 3Broadleaf forest in Bhutan (from Forest)
Image 4Since the 13th century, the Niepołomice Forest in Poland has had special use and protection. In this view from space, different coloration can indicate different functions. (from Forest)
Image 5Latvian Pine Forest in Ķegums Municipality (from Forest)
Image 6A section of yew (Taxus baccata) showing 27 annual growth rings, pale sapwood and dark heartwood (from Tree)
Image 7World production of selected forest products (from Forest)
Image 8Burned forest on Thasos (from Forest)
Image 9Fraxinus excelsior (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 10Buttress roots of the kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra) (from Tree)
Image 11Diagram of secondary growth in a eudicot or coniferous tree showing idealised vertical and horizontal sections. A new layer of wood is added in each growing season, thickening the stem, existing branches and roots. (from Tree)
Image 12The Amazon rainforest alongside the Solimões River, a tropical rainforest. These forests are the most biodiverse and productive ecosystems in the world. (from Forest)
Image 13Malus sylvestris (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 14Yggdrasil, the World Ash of Norse mythology (from Tree)
Image 15European larch (Larix decidua), a coniferous tree which is also deciduous (from Tree)
Image 16Proportion and distribution of global forest area by climatic domain, 2020 (from Forest)
Image 17A young red pine (Pinus resinosa) with spread of roots visible, as a result of soil erosion (from Tree)
Image 18Roof trusses made from softwood (from Tree)
Image 19A forest near Vinitsa, North Macedonia (from Forest)
Image 20Sugar maple (Acer saccharum) tapped to collect sap for maple syrup (from Tree)
Image 21Common ash (Fraxinus excelsior), a deciduous broad-leaved (angiosperm) tree (from Tree)
Image 22People trees, by Pooktre (from Tree)
Image 23Alnus glutinosa (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 24Forest in the Scottish Highlands (from Forest)
Image 25Priest River winding through Whitetail Butte with lots of forestry to the east—these lot patterns have existed since the mid-19th century. The white patches reflect areas with younger, smaller trees, where winter snow cover shows up brightly to the astronauts. Dark green-brown squares are parcels (from Forest)
Image 26Conifers in the Swabian alps (from Tree)
Image 27Lepidodendron, an extinct lycophyte tree (from Tree)
Image 28Even, dense old-growth stand of beech trees (Fagus sylvatica) prepared to be regenerated by their saplings in the understory, in the Brussels part of the Sonian Forest. (from Forest)
Image 29Selling firewood at a market (from Tree)
Image 30Share of land that is covered by forest (from Forest)
Image 31Casentinesi Forests, Italy (from Forest)
Image 32Proportion of forest in protected areas, by region, 2020 (from Forest)
Image 33Share of forest area in total land area, top countries (2021) (from Forest)
Image 34Recently stripped cork oak (Quercus suber) (from Tree)
Image 35An avenue of London planes (Platanus × hispanica) in a garden in Belgium. (from Tree)
Image 36Wind dispersed seed of elm (Ulmus), ash (Fraxinus) and maple (Acer) (from Tree)
Image 374000 years old Cypress of Abarqu is the oldest tree in Iran and the second oldest tree in the world. (from List of trees of Iran)
Image 38Rowan tree in Wicklow, Ireland (from List of trees of Great Britain and Ireland)
Image 39Cracked thorny skin of a Aesculus tree seed (from Tree)
Image 40The General Sherman Tree, thought to be the world's largest by volume (from Tree)
Image 41Garibaldi Provincial Park, British Columbia (from Forest)
Image 42Yellow cassia, an ornamental tree with yellow flowers (from Tree)
Image 43Neem tree at Sant Nenuram Ashram (from Trees of Pakistan)
Image 44Trees in art: Weeping Willow, Claude Monet, 1918 (from Tree)
Image 45Northern beech (Fagus sylvatica) trunk in autumn (from Tree)
Image 46Olive trees in Pakistan (from Trees of Pakistan)
Image 47Buds, leaves and reproductive structures of white fir, Abies alba (from Tree)
Image 48Spiny forest at Ifaty, Madagascar, featuring various Adansonia (baobab) species, Alluaudia procera (Madagascar ocotillo) and other vegetation (from Forest)
Image 49Temperate rainforest in Tasmania's Hellyer Gorge (from Forest)
Image 50Latex collecting from a rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) (from Tree)
Image 51The Daintree Rainforest (from Tree)
Image 52Informal upright style of bonsai on a juniper tree (from Tree)
Image 53Redwood tree in northern California redwood forest, where many redwood trees are managed for preservation and longevity, rather than being harvested for wood production (from Forest)
Image 54Dormant buds of ash, Fraxinus excelsior (from Tree)
Image 55Tall herbaceous monocotyledonous plants such as banana lack secondary growth, but are trees under the broadest definition. (from Tree)
Image 56Palms and cycads as they might have appeared in the middle Tertiary (from Tree)